Election interference isn’t new

Russian interference in U.S. elections - say it isn’t so! Understandably, we are shocked and outraged by the indictment of thirteen Russian citizens for the obviously unwarranted and criminal interference in the most recent presidential election.

But wait - is this the first time this has happened? I would commend the reader to a December 21, 2016, article by Nina Agrawal in the Los Angeles Times. In that article the author notes a study by a political science professor from Carnegie Mellon University which states that between 1946 and 2000 the U.S. has attempted to influence presidential elections in other countries as many as 81 times. The author goes on to note that this number does not include military coups and regime change efforts following the election of a leader that the U.S. didn’t like. Other examples include our interference in the 1996 Russian election and, more recently, our interference in the elections in Israel.

Should we be outraged by the Russian meddling in our elections and do whatever we can to prevent the same in the future? Yes. Should we be so naive as to think that the Russians are the only ones who have undertaken such activity? Obviously not.

Jim McDevitt

Spokane